The Congress on Tuesday urged the Election Commission (EC) to pull off the air, a purported sting operation being shown by a private news channel in Dehradun accusing Chief Minister Harish Rawat of bribing a former BJP MLA to break ranks with his party. The party termed it as a conspiracy of the BJP and the channel involved to build an atmosphere against Congress ahead of assembly elections to be held in Uttarakhand on Wednesday.

Questioning the timing of the alleged sting CD, Rawat’s spokesman Surendra Kumar lodged a complaint with the Election Coimmission of India saying it began to be aired by a private news channel 48 hours before the beginning of polling to mislead voters and build an atmosphere against the Congress. He also urged the commission to ask the channel to pull off air the “so-called” sting video immediately and also stop its circulation on the social media saying it was designed to influence voters as part of a conspiracy by the BJP and the private news channel.

Hours after the sting began being aired by the channel last evening, Pradesh BJP president accused Rawat of striking a deal of Rs 7 crores with former BJP MLA from Bhimtal Dan Singh Bhandari to make him resign from the membership of the state assembly and desert his party. Bhatt asked Rawat to step down as CM saying he had no moral right to continue in office.

Bhandari, who was BJP’s MLA from Bhimtal, resigned from the state assembly at the time of the political crisis last year when nine Congress MLAs rebelled against Rawat and joined the BJP. Bhandari had joined the Congress later.